Brent Kuhlman

+ Jesu Juva +

Trinity, the Pharisees and scribes have a few questions for you.  Shouldn’t take too long. But I warn you.  These guys are the biggest theological wig heads around.  The most authoritative religious pinheads you’ll ever meet.  They know every nook and cranny of religion.  They’ve forgotten more than most people know.  They can be quite intimidating.  So are you ready?  You are?  OK.  Remember, I did caution you.  Go ahead Mr. Pharisee and Mr. Scribe.  Ask away. 

“Thank you Reverend Kuhlman (clearing their throats).  Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of Trinity, we’re very concerned about the hygiene of your hands.  Tell us, do you wash them?  Especially before you eat?  What kind of soap?  How hot is the water?  How long are your hands under the water?  Do you air dry or towel dry?  Hold out your hands please.  Prepare them for inspection.” 

“What’s that?  What did you say?  Speak up!  We can’t hear you!  You DON’T wash before you eat? Well we never! Lord Almighty in heaven!  Inconceivable!  You’re very, very bad!  Like those naughty apostles.  They didn’t wash either.  And that Jesus won’t make them either.  Look here!  You MUST follow the tradition of the elders.  Ivory soap.  Water above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  A 30 second wash and absolutely no towels.  We wash our cups, pitchers, copper pots that way.  We even throw in a couch or two for good measure.  After all, you can’t transgress this rule! No exceptions. No variations. Excuse me notes from your Mommies or Daddies aren’t accepted.  If you don’t wash in this most special way, the food that goes in your mouth is defiled.  Then you’re desecrated – polluted.  Earn yourself a one-way ticket to . . . well, you know where.  OBEY the long-standing rules of the elders and you move up on the merit scoreboard.  You might be able to cut a deal with God.  So better start washing correctly and get the merit meter moving upward!”       
 
Well, there you have it Trinity.  As you stand before God what will you offer as your pass to heaven?  How well you scrubbed your hands the way the Pharisees and scribes demanded?  “See how we washed, Lord!  Did it just the way the elders mandated.  How about letting us in?  We’ve never let any undefiled food cross our lips.”

The Lord Jesus makes the call.  It’s not positive.  Might just ruin your self-esteem.  In fact, it will kill you.  No.  It will damn you.  “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites, . . . ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’  You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” 

Hypocrites.  There’s no Word of God that says washing your hands before you eat is the proper worship of God.  You can do it if you want.    Wash any way you want to.  With any kind of soap.  Cold or hot water.  Towel or no towel.  And parents, it’s OK to make the kids wash before supper.  Please.  It’s an excellent idea.  I certainly don’t want their germs.  Neither does anyone else.  But never -- ever say God says so.  And never -- never say that washing your hands justifies you before God.  Only hypocrites would put that over and on you.

Someone needs to tell those Pharisees and scribes what really needs cleansing.  Not our hands but something else!  What’s really unclean and defiled are not our hands but . . .

What’s that?  Someone has said it.  That’s right.  Jesus has.  He says that our hearts are the problem.  Our hearts are full of some really bad stuff.  From the sinful heart comes:  evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 

And the Pharisees and scribes had us all worked up over our hands.  They’ve missed the boat completely.  Hands aren’t the problem.  The heart is!  We’re rotten sinners.  To the core.  From the heart.  Evil thoughts.  Sexual immorality.  Theft.  Murder.  Adultery.  Greed.  Malice.  Deceit.  Lewdness.  Envy.  Slander.  Arrogance.  Folly.  It’s ugly.  The filth, gunk, decay, and death come straight from the heart.  “The heart is deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9).  Curved in on ourselves we are.         

Who needs Jesus if hand hygiene is the big deal?  But when it comes to our hearts, that’s a totally different story.  Rotten to the core nothings we are.  But Jesus – He’s everything.  He’s greater than our hearts, the Savior.  He has taken all your from the heart sins into His Body.  Answered for them all.  Damned as THE HYPOCRITE in our place on Good Friday as He hangs on the Cross.  Your sin from the heart and all its impurities are His.  

In exchange, He’s washed your bodies in Holy Baptism.  Washed you with His most holy Blood in that pool of regeneration.  Into your mouths and throats He puts His sin forgiving and sin purifying Body and Blood. And the cleansing goes deeper still.  Your hearts have been sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus.  Cleansed.  Purified.  From a guilty conscience.

So when your heart accuses you or the devil or maybe a bunch of Pharisees and scribes throw the sins of your heart in your face, politely declare:  “Yes, I have sinned.  My wickedness runs deep.  But I cling to Jesus.  He’s got my heart.  Go speak to Him.  See if you can talk Him out of His Good Friday death for me.  I don’t think you’ll get very far.  After all, Jesus is very bullish about one thing and one thing only:  that He alone is my Savior.  My sins are His and His forgiveness is mine.  Now, free in Christ, I think I’ll wash up and get ready to eat the Supper He’s prepared for me.”

In the Name of Jesus.  Amen.